


Cedar and Cinnamon

by HalfwayThrough



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 1933 AU, F/M, Reylo Monster Week, Slow Burn, Up in a cabin in the mountains, Werewolf AU, but not like too slow we got stuff to do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-08 03:37:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16421681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfwayThrough/pseuds/HalfwayThrough
Summary: After being left a cabin through the will of an old man she had never met, Rey ventures up in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest to make a new life away from the city. The only problem is someone is already living there, and he carries a secret.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is my work for Day 2 of Reylo Monster Week: Werewolves. It's a lot longer than I thought it would ever be, but I did a lot of fun research into the time period and enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy it!

Mud caked the bottom of her boots, soaking the leather with muck. It felt good to get a little dirty, especially where no one would chastise her for soiling the hem of her skirt. Plutt was always going on about how she didn’t look lady like, that the jobs he hired her out for would send her straight back to his complex if she showed up looking like a street rat. Well, that tends to happen when you’re a street rat. Straight out of the orphanage and Rey and the other girls were shuffled into service as maids shipped off to the big lavish mansions on the outskirts. There was a pleasantness to being apart of something so luxurious. Rey would run her fingers over the fine mahogany tables, gazing at the intricate paintings hung on the walls. There was a sadness to it as well. The people she encountered on those jobs never seemed happy with their excess. The women were always quiet, playing with the long strands of pearls hanging around their necks gazing out windows. It seemed ironic to be surrounded by everything they could possibly want and still not be happy. 

She had just finished up a house that morning. Her uniform was too tight and horribly itchy. It was freeing to be away from the sounds and smells of city, from the toil of work, and be out in nature. Just a few weeks ago she had received a letter, it was concerning the will of an old man she had never heard of before, yet her name was written plain as day. He had left her a small cabin up in the mountains just outside of town, a life changing gift. She had no time to mourn the man she didn’t know and completed a shift before heading up to the mountains. With multiple saved paychecks under her belt, and a book about wilderness under her arm, Rey had gathered her small collection of things into a pack and turned in her resignation to Plutt. He scoffed and waved her away. Not even a good bye, not that she expected one. 

Rey wasn’t worried about the challenges of nature. She had survived many nights under the stars as a child and as an adult. 

It had rained earlier that morning, before the sun had a chance to rise. The entire forest was damp and smelled of fresh, wet soil. It was wonderful. 

Rey followed a small hand-written map as she hiked up the mountain. There were a few landmarks on the map that she passed along the way. A large boulder, a pine split by a lightning strike, and the ruins of a stone structure. 

Rey stepped into a clearing and found a small cabin nestled by the tree line, but it was not empty as she originally assumed it would be. Smoke puffed out of the chimney, and a small gas lamp could be seen in the window. Rey chewed on her lip. She had already put Plutt’s behind her, she couldn’t turn back now. 

She followed a small worn path up to the log cabin and knocked on the door. She heard some shuffling inside and then the door creaked open. The largest man Rey had ever since stood in the doorway. His head nearly touched the top of the frame, his shoulders broad enough to fill the entire space. He had long shaggy black hair, and dark eyes. His skin was pale, but dotted with a handful of freckles and moles. He had a prominent nose, but not an unhandsome one. He had on a worn work shirt tucked into brown pants whose suspenders were hanging off of his hips. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of Rey standing before him. His voice was deep and smooth, like dark chocolate. Rey blinked and then fumbled with her map, leaning forward to show him the paper. 

“I’m Rey Niima, I think I own this cabin? I got a letter, it said a Ben Kenobi left this to me in his will.” Rey handed over the letter she had received, and the man looked the document over. His dark eyes scanned the letter carefully. 

“Looks official. Funny thing is he left this patch of land to me. I guess he double booked us.” The man handed the papers back and Rey took them, glancing down at the map again before looking up. 

“So, do you live here?” Rey asked, trying to peak past the mountain of a man to see the inside of the cottage. 

“Sort of.” The man shifted in the doorway. Rain sprinkled down on the porch, the raindrops settling into Rey’s hair. “Here, come inside.” 

He moved out of the way and Rey shuffled past him into the room. He smelled like smoke and cedar. The cottage was small, with no inner walls. A fire roared in the hearth, in front of her. To one side of the cabin was a small wood burning stove. Pots and pans hung from nails in the walls, with dishes and glasses set up beside it. A kettle sat on the stove now. A wooden dining table with two chairs sat beside a window, green drapes hanging over the window glass pane with a small gas lamp on the sill. The other side of the cottage had a double bed tucked away into a corner, a pile of quilts spread out over the mattress. A small wooden nightstand sat beside it, a book adorning its surface. A trunk sat at the foot of the bed, with a large fur rug spread in front of it. A rack was mounted on the wall, holding a shotgun, a rifle, and a box of ammunition. Other than that, intricate tapestries hung from the walls. They were old and worn, but Rey could tell they had once been colorful and clear. She made a note to examine them closely if she got the chance.

It was cozy and warm inside and Rey couldn’t help but sigh with relief. She felt as if she had finally come home, after a life of shuffling from place to place. 

Whoever Kenobi was, she sure did owe him one. 

“So, Rey was it?” the man asked, closing the door on the growing rainstorm outside. 

“Yeah, and you are?” 

“Ben Solo,” he held out a hand which drowned hers as soon as she took it. His palm was rough with callouses, but she enjoyed the friction against her skin. 

“Did you know Kenobi?” she asked, chancing another glance around the one room cottage. 

“No, but my uncle spoke of him frequently,” Ben crossed to the kitchen area. “Would you like some coffee?” 

“Yes, please,” Rey answered, wandering closer to a tapestry hanging by the fireplace. On closer inspection, Rey could make out dark blue thread weaving in and out of the design. She could make out figures, as if it were a picture of a stage play captured in time with thread. 

“Here,” Ben’s deep voice said behind her. She turned, taking the warm metal cup in her hands. The coffee wasn’t the best she’d ever had, but certainly not the worst. “Did you know Kenobi?” 

“No, I had never heard of him before,” Rey said, blowing on her coffee and taking another hearty gulp. That early morning hike had taken its toll and a warm drink was a welcomed delight. 

“Is he kin to you?” 

“Nope. I don’t have any kin.” 

“None?” 

“I’m an orphan.” 

“Oh, my apologies.” 

“Unnecessary, Mr. Solo,” she said with a small smile. “I should be apologizing. It seems I have interrupted your morning.” 

“Not at all, it is nice to see a face up here. It gets lonely,” he said. He wasn’t drinking his coffee, his fingers drumming on his cup mindlessly. He paused. “If you don’t mind me asking, what were your intentions on coming here?” 

“Well, if you want to know the truth,” Rey said, her eyes drifting to the single bed in the corner of the single room cabin. “I was hoping to make a home up here.” 

She set her coffee cup on the mantle and shifted her pack off her shoulder, fishing out her wilderness book from inside. 

“I had done a little research, and I quit my job and brought all my things here,” she said, her cheeks flushing pink as she realized how naïve her story sounded especially to someone who was already living in the mountains. 

“This is all your things?” Ben asked, looking to her single small backpack. 

“Orphans don’t carry a lot with them, Mr. Solo.” 

“I’m sorry, Miss Niima.” 

“It’s Rey.” 

“Sorry,” he took a breath, trying his hand at her first name, letting the syllable roll around his mouth. “Rey.”

A heavy silence settled between them, Rey holding her mostly empty sack and childish wilderness book, and Ben fiddling with his coffee. 

“Have you lived here long?” Rey asked, shoving her book back into the bag. 

“A couple of months now. I used to come up once a month, but decided it was much more peaceful than city life,” he said, his dark brown eyes meeting hers. 

“That what I was hoping to hear,” Rey smiled sheepishly. She paused before abruptly plowing into the main question on their minds. “Listen, would it be okay if I stayed here a while? I don’t want to intrude, but I don’t really have anywhere else to go back to.”

Ben rubbed the back of his neck, putting the muscles of his arms on display. “I don’t know, it’s not safe up here.” 

Rey resisted the urge to roll her eyes, if only this man knew anything about growing up downtown he wouldn’t be so quick to spout the “safety” line. 

“But I’d be here with you,” Rey said, standing up a little straighter. “And I’m not as helpless as I seem. I can hold my own.” 

Rey watched his eyes flicker to the bed, and its very domestic implications. 

“I can sleep on the floor,” she said abruptly, interrupting the thought he must be having. His face twisted in surprise, not ready to deal with her guessing his thoughts before he voiced them.

“Miss Niima, I-” 

“Mr. Solo I didn’t want to pull this card, but Kenobi did leave the _cabin_ to me. You said he just gave you the land. Now, if we got the law involved you would be entitled to sleep wherever you wanted- on the dirt outside. However, I don’t think that will be necessary, do you?” Rey said, her eyes glistening with mischief. Plutt always said she was trouble, it was only now that she was starting to believe him. 

“Alright,” he said sullenly, finally taking a sip of his coffee. “But if anything happens, don’t start complaining. I warned you.”

“Of course,” Rey smiled, picking up her cup from the mantle and holding it aloft for a toast. “To our future partnership.”

Ben cracked the tiniest of smiles before clicking his cup against hers.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben threw a thick lambskin coat over his shoulders and hefted his rifle off the rack. 

“Where are you going with that?” Rey asked through a mouthful of grits. It was a warm, and had a dollop of huckleberry jam swirled into it. It was delicious, and by far the best meal Rey had consumed in months under Plutt. 

“Hunting,” he mumbled, shoving a small green box into his jacket. Rey also caught a long hunting knife strapped to his belt. She wondered if he had bought it or made it himself. 

“I’ll come too,” Rey said, rising from the table and wiping her mouth clean with the back of her hand. 

“No.” The word seemed desperate, almost panicked. Rey blinked, frozen with her hand still paused by her chin. Her brow furrowed, hazel eyes carefully taking in this new emotion from her new roommate. 

“Why?” she challenged, setting her breakfast bowl down on the table with a loud _thunk_. 

“Listen, just let me do this by myself. I don’t think you’ve even held a gun before and I don’t have enough meat stored to last two people for longer than two days. I’ll take you along when we’re not so desperate for food. Deal?” he spoke quickly, as if he’d gone over the words in his head and rehearsed them before saying them. Rey considered the idea. She didn’t think she’d be too much of a burden on an outing. She’d never shot a deer before but she’d certainly held a gun. It had been nothing like Ben’s hunting rifle. It was a small pistol her friend Finn at the orphanage had shown her. It had been wrapped in a handkerchief and he unrolled it to show her the shiny barrel in the middle of the night. They huddled in the hallway connecting the boy’s hall and girl’s hall, and Rey carefully took the weapon in her hand. He said he’d gotten it from a mobster, with a nice suit and a shiny black car. He said he was going to ride with them, get himself a fancy suit too. 

She wondered if he ever got that suit. 

“Fine,” Rey finally said, her shoulders slumped forward at her small defeat. 

“I’ll be back by dark.”

* * *

There was not a whole lot to do inside old man Kenobi’s cottage. Rey fed the fire a few more sticks, and examined the shotgun left on the gun rack. She stepped outside and filled a small bucket at the water pump and rinsed their cups and bowls from breakfast. After a few hours, Rey sat beside the window, as the land outside dried up under the early afternoon sun. The morning showers had dissipated, and she flipped through her wilderness book looking at the sketches of plants. Tired of being relegated to the cabin, Rey slammed her book closed and started outside. 

She decided to collect firewood. That seemed like an easy enough task. She wandered into the tree line, and picked up the nearest fallen limb she saw. She frowned as the wood was still soaked from the morning rain. Rey couldn’t bear the idea of sitting inside for the rest of the afternoon and began tip toeing through the trees, taking in the sights of nature. Worms wiggled through the damp soil, and squirrels ran up and down the trees. Pine needles were beginning to fall, a certain sign of Fall easing in over the mountain. Rey saw a red cardinal sitting on a branch above her. It tilted its head to the side, as if examining her. 

The city never had anything this green. The wildlife Rey was used to were sewer rats and stray cats. It was nice to be surrounded by quiet, gentle nature. Thick green trees, and mushrooms blooming out of the dirt. 

It was peaceful. Rey walked further through the trees. She climbed over a few boulders, and ducked beneath a fallen log. She enjoyed the fresh smell of the forest and how the chill air filled her lungs. Clouds filled the sky, hiding the warm sun behind them. The air grew heavy and wet, but Rey enjoyed the sticky feeling of the earth greeting her skin. Sweat slipped down the back of her neck, but it was a reminder of being alive. Of being away from the thick dark smoke of the factories 

She noticed plants that had only existed as pencil sketches in her book alive and green nestled under trees. Rey wanted to pick them and bring them back to the cabin, but decided to wait until she had her book to doublecheck her findings. The worst thing she could do was grab something that would break her skin out in boils because she wasn’t patient. 

Time moved differently among the trees than it did back in town. Rey had always been hyper aware of what time it was, the clicking of the clocktower and wristwatches filling every quiet space. Even the library had a large grandfather clock whose ticking prevented any kind of reading from being done. Then again not a lot people downtown were interested in reading, despite the efforts of some do-good priests. Here, the time moved with only the sun. Rey had no where to be, no mansions to clean or errands to run. No train to catch. Just her and the earth around her. It was calming, an she could have spent an entire week out in the trees alone. Time meant nothing up here, as if she had passed through a portal where the laws of men no longer ruled. 

She never wanted to leave.

* * *

Rey slowly made her way back to the cottage, despite her heart’s yearning to lay down in the moss and become one with the forest floor. She can see why after a few trips up Ben had decided to stay full time. Just the few hours she had been here seemed like the most vivid moments she’d had in her entire life.  
However, she wasn’t as familiar with the forest’s geography as she was with its spirit. She had spent the last few hours wandering into the trees and now was trying to wander her way back around. The small clearing that housed the cabin evaded her. Thick, gray clouds filled the sky threatening to release a downpour overhead. 

She clambered through the underbrush, her boots taking a beating. The clouds opened a little, a dusting of raindrops falling over the trees. She eventually ran into the familiar path she had taken out into the forest. Familiar moss-covered boulders, and a rather distinct fallen tree. Lucky for her, she found her way just as the skies truly released their power. Rey sprinted through the underbrush as lightning flashed across the sky. She ran all the way until she broke through the tree line and slammed her boots up the steps to the porch. She took a moment, sheltered from the rain, to regain and breath before swinging open the door. She started inside, excited to get her hands on her book and compare plants to what she had seen on her walk, when she ran into a large, plaid covered chest. 

“Where have you been?!” Ben’s dark eyes were wide as they stared down at her soaked form. Rey stood, shivering in her thin jacket and pants, dripping water onto the floor.

“On a walk,” she said, casually as if she wasn’t soaking wet and missing for hours. Ben took a hold of her shoulders, his thick fingers digging into the skin enough to catch her attention, but not enough to hurt. 

“Rey, it is extremely dangerous out there. You can’t just wander around like that,” his eyes were on hers, leaving no escape for her to stare at the ancient tapestries on the walls. She felt like she was being chastised at Plutt’s again. “Please, promise me you won’t do that anymore.” 

That caught her attention. There was a desperation in it, like before he left for hunting that morning. An urgency that seemed out of place. She focused on his face, examining the dark pools of his eyes. 

“Please?” he whispered once more. Rey blinked, surprised at deep sincerity in his voice. 

“Okay, I promise,” she said. 

“Thank you,” he freed her shoulders, straightening back up to his full height. “I’ll step outside so you can change into dry clothes.” 

“Actually,” she said, her cheeks turning a vicious shade of pink. Ben froze, a dark eyebrow bolting up. “I don’t… I don’t have any more clothes.” 

“What?” 

“This is all I have. Well, actually I have another pair of socks but I don’t think that’s going to work,” she said, feeling extremely small. Her uniform she had to give back to Plutt and she had spent most of her budget on boots for the hike. Another pair of clothes seemed unnecessary at the time, but now it seemed like a no brainer. 

“You can use anything you find in the trunk,” Ben said, pointing to the wood and leather box at the end of the bed. 

“Thank you,” Rey peeped out as Ben stepped onto the porch, softly closing the door behind him. 

Rey made a point to pull the thin green curtains closed over the cabin windows before slipping out of her wet clothes. She spread out her soggy items near the fire, hoping they’d dry by the morning time so she could wear them once again. She placed her soaked boots beside the flames as well, unsure if she would ever truly free them from their muddy prison. 

She yanked her hair out of their three buns, the wet mess falling down her back in a waterfall of tangles. She combed her fingers through it and crossed to the trunk. She kneeled before it, flipping the metal latch and heaving the top open. The smell of cedar hit her full force. Carefully, she took a plaid button-down shirt from the trunk, holding the blue fabric to her nose. It smelled like him, it smelled safe. She slipped into the shirt, the sleeves hanging well over her hands, the hem coming down to her knees. She fastened every button save the very top one and quickly slipped her fresh pair of socks onto her feet. 

Her hand gripped the handle of the front door and swung it open. 

“You can come in now,” she said, pushing her wet hair behind one ear. Ben pushed off from the wall where he had been leaning, and flicked his finished cigarette out into the rain. Stepping inside, his eyes took her in. Rey could feel his dark eyes move over her form, and could do nothing to help the blood rushing to her cheeks. 

“Thank you,” she stammered, her fingers playing with the edge of the shirt. “For the clothes.” 

“No problem.” Ben shrugged out of his lambskin and hung it on the peg near the door. Rey crossed to the kitchen side of the cabin. She grabbed a jar of preserves, trying to figure out what the black slush inside was. 

“Maybe I could make dinner? I don’t know a whole lot about cooking, but this seems pretty simple. I feel like it’s the least I could do after barging in like I did. What exactly is this-,” Rey turned around, still eyeing the jar and found an entirely new scene to dissect. 

Ben stood by the fire, naked to the waist. His outer shirt and under shirt were discarded to the bed. His suspenders were, once again, freed from his shoulders and hung loosely around his hips. Rey’s words lodged in her throat as she took in the sight. 

She knew he was massive. He had been living in the mountains for a few months so he had to have formed some kind of muscle, but this was something else. She had no idea what he had been doing before he came to live in the cottage, maybe he was a Greek god chiseled out of marble that had come to life. That would certainly explain his secrecy. His skin was pale, but the fire cast a warm glow, extenuating each curve of his abdominal muscles. Rey was frozen, her hands clutching onto the preserve jar for dear life. 

“Hm?” he hummed, looking up casually as if he wasn’t half naked. Rey may have grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, but she had certainly never seen a man in such a state of undress before. Especially at such a close distance. As if reading her mind, he stepped forward quickly closing the distance between them. Rey swallowed hard, her socked feet glued to the stone floor by the stove. He gently took the jar from her hand, turning it around where a small paper label read in messy cursive _Blackberries._

“Oh…. Haha,” Rey chuckled nervously, hazel eyes all but compelled to flicker down to admire to expanse of his chest. She watched the muscles in his arms ripple as he placed the jar of blackberries back on the shelf behind her. His bicep was right beside her face, the heady scent of smoke and cedar clouding every thought in her mind. 

“Don’t worry about dinner,” he said quietly, his hand still resting on the shelf. Rey wondered if he could hear her heart hammering inside of her chest, it certainly felt like it was loud enough. She stared up at him, her mouth hanging open as she processed the intoxicating smell of nature and sweat. 

“So, Mr. Solo,” she said quickly, ducking out from the enclosed space to get some fresh air to her brain. Maybe then she would be able to think straight. “What did you do before you chose the mountain life?” 

Ben took a pot off the wall and set it on the stove. Rey tried not to notice how the muscles in his back moved as he did. 

“I was in the clergy,” he said, his eyes focused on the food before him as he scooped out a cup of beans from a large sack. 

“Oh,” Rey was surprised. Ben Solo didn’t really strike her as a god-fearing man. She tried to picture him in a priest’s robes and could have laughed at the mental image. Most people this side of the country were reluctant to be affiliated with anything to do with God. This was the west, a lawless land where people worked hard and did whatever they could to survive. Many people in the northwest didn’t want God breathing down their necks. Of course, being an orphan Rey had seen her share of churches. The men in their black uniforms always meant good, but sometimes never quite achieved it. Still, imagining this mountain of a main wearing black robes was almost laughable. The white collar would sooner snap than wrap around the width of his neck. “But not anymore?” 

“Wasn’t for me,” his voice was clipped. Rey didn’t think she would get anything else out of him about that, but was surprised to get another sliver of information. “My uncle wanted me to do it. My parents didn’t know what else to do. Overall, it was a bad decision.” 

Rey leaned against the kitchen table, watching him boil the beans and shred chunks of bacon into it. He was very focused on the task, his hands quick and deft from months of practice. Rey examined the tapestries along the walls, the golden threads woven throughout catching her eye. 

“What was your Uncle’s name?” Rey asked, curiosity worming its way into her thoughts. 

“Skywalker.” 

“Oh my god,” Rey said, standing up straight. She laughed, shocked by the coincidence of it all. “I know him. I met him!” 

“Really?” Ben asked, slipping a spoon into the pot and swirling the contents around. 

“Yeah, Father Skywalker was always coming by the orphanage. He… he taught me how to read,” she said, her words trailing off as the memory bloomed in her mind. He had been an older gentleman, with a graying beard but kind eyes. The first time he ever set foot in the state home Rey had begged him teach her. She had always seen the men in black robes reading from their holy book and she knew he knew how to do it. Plutt was so focused on squeezing money out of the kids, shipping them off to work in factories as soon as they were old enough, that education fell by the way side. If you wanted to learn anything you had to fight for it. And Rey fought for Skywalker. 

“He must have taken a liking to you,” Ben said, a bitterness touching his words. 

“Did he… was he not kind to you?” Rey asked carefully, stepping into the kitchen area. 

“He was… for a time. It’s a boring story,” Ben said, a tone of finality ending the conversation. “What did you do before hiking up here and commandeering my house?”

Rey blushed at his blunt words and stepped away from the stove. Skywalker had struck a nerve and he needed some space. 

“I was a housekeeper,” Rey said, taking a seat at the table. “I hated it.” 

“Well you’re in luck, there isn’t much house here to keep,” Ben said, shooting her a smile over his shoulder. There was something about how his grin filled his entire face that made her heart skip a beat. “You should sit by the fire. You could catch a cold.” 

Rey wasn’t too worried about becoming sick, it was just a little rain, but she followed his instructions. She sat cross legged on the fur rug in front of the fire, and found that the warm air on her skin absolutely delicious. Everything was so raw and pure up here, it made since why people chose to never come down to town after a season in the mountains. She flipped through her wilderness book, looking at the various plants, and concepts for building fires. She was starting to doze when Ben sat beside her, handing a her a bowl full of hot beans and bacon. 

“Thank you,” she said. They were salty, and meaty and absolutely wonderful after the day she hd. She had skipped lunch during her walk around the woods and was starving. They ate in silence, the soft gray glow of evening turning a dark deep black as night slipped into place outside. 

“Rey, you have to make me another promise,” Ben said, his face set into hard lines and his voice hard and serious. 

“Yes?” she asked, setting her bowl down on the rug. 

“You have to promise me you won’t go out at night,” his dark eyes were hard on hers. 

“What if I want to see the stars?” she asked smiling, half joking half serious. She always heard it was easier to see the stars up in the mountains and wanted to have a look for herself. 

“Rey.” He wasn’t in a joking mood evidently.

“Okay. I promise.” She gave in. It felt awfully limiting, and it seemed like he was overreacting. Her book had outlined when to take caution but even the printed guidelines weren’t as strict as Ben Solo’s rules. “What, is there like a pack of mountain lions in the area?” 

“Something like that,” he said, quickly taking the bowls and ducking into the kitchen.

* * *

Ben insisted on sleeping on the floor, no matter how much Rey insisted it was necessary. Defeated, she slipped under the quilt on the bed and secretly was thankful for the comfort for her aching body. Turns out wandering the forest during a storm takes something out of a person. Ben gave her a small candle, which Rey had set on the bed side table, and took the gas lamp for himself on the floor. He sat mending a sock of his with a needle and thread in the dim light. Rey could hardly sleep despite the exhaustion in her bones. She was tired of her nature book and threw it on the stone floor beside her bag. She eyed the book on the side table. It had a hard, dark blue cover and blue binding down the spine. She moved her candle holder off of it, slipping the book out and letting it fall open in her lap. Its pages were full of charts. It had dates printed in them, with the names of stars beside them detailing when certain single lights could be seen in the night sky. She skipped a couple of chapters to a dog-eared section of the book. It had a large chart filled with detailed descriptions and dates of the phases of the moon. A couple of dates had little stars scribbled next to them with a pencil. The closest of which was a little under a month away, September 4th. Rey smiled to herself. She had wanted to come to the mountains to see the stars and it seemed Ben Solo had done something similar. 

She raised the book up, exposing the chart of moon phases to Ben sitting on the floor. 

“So, you won’t let me see the stars even when you know when they’ll be out?” she asked. She meant it simply as a playful joke. A little jab to the rib of a rather serious man with what little she knew about him. Except when Ben looked up and saw what she was holding his face went pale. The needle and sock fell from his hands and he was on his feet beside the bed before Rey had a chance to wipe the smile off her face. 

“That is my book,” he snapped, snatching the book from her hands. She looked up at him shocked, the change in attitude was startling. Almost immediately, his shoulders slumped and the book hung limply at his side. “I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m not used to sharing a space yet.” 

“It’s okay,” Rey said, giving him a soft smile. “I just have a lot of practice.” 

There are unwritten rules in a shared home. If an item is stuffed under a pillow or in a trunk, it was off limits. This book was out in the open, so Rey assumed it was free game to read. That’s how it always was growing up, but she understood Ben must have had a very different upbringing. 

“You can read it,” he said, offering the book back to her. 

“I’ll save it for tomorrow,” she said, pushing the cover back into his hands. 

“Thank you,” he said quietly before returning to his space on the floor. He slipped underneath a quilt and extinguished his lamp, bathing the cabin in complete darkness save for the tiny candle by the bed. 

Rey stared out in the dark of the cottage for a moment, listening to the crickets outside. The rain had stopped half an hour ago and all the creatures and insects of the forest were out conducting their symphonies. 

She reached down, bringing up her nature book and a pencil from her pack. In the margin of the third page detailing edible fungi, she scribbled a quick note to herself. If it was important enough for Ben to circle in his book, maybe she should remember it as well.  
_“Sept. 4th – Full Moon.”_


	3. Chapter 3

The next few weeks were a crash course in mountain living. Rey woke up earlier every day, often rising from slumber as Ben dropped a pan or shut the door on his way out. How he happened to wake up before the sun rose everyday she wasn’t sure. Eventually, by the end of the third week she was waking up just after he did, and she called that a victory. 

They had formulated a small little routine. Wake up, Ben would make breakfast of grits and jam, maybe a little bacon to go with it. Ben would drink from the gray dented coffee mug, and Rey from the navy-blue one. They’d eat then, if it hadn’t rained all morning, they’d collect firewood. Rey picked up fallen limbs around the clearing for kindling, and gathered pine needles for tinder. Most of the time she ended up distracted, standing a little way into the trees, an armful of sticks, and her hazel eyes dutifully watching Ben in the clearing. He had a small stump by the shed that held the salted, drying meats, that he would chop wood on. Rey enjoyed watching him swing an axe down, splitting logs as if they were twigs. He was definitely strong, and seeing such a blatant display of it made her heart flutter. Sometimes, he’d throw his shirt off too, and chop wood bare chested. There was something very compelling about chopping wood up in the mountains shirtless, and Rey wasn’t about to ask him to stop. He always did find an occasion to take his shirt off, no matter the weather. You’d think after nearly a month she’d be used to it, yet every time she woke up to Ben cooking shirtless, or peeked at his daily chores outside to see him naked from the waist up she’d have to bite back a small gasp. She wanted to touch him, to feel the power of the muscles in his arms. She wanted to rest her head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat. But that was an absurd thing to want, especially when there were chores to get done. So, she pushed aside the nonsensical raving of hormones and focused on the tasks at hand. 

They went hunting as well. Ben had kept his side of the promise and they headed out into the woods on the third morning Rey spent at the cabin. He slung the rifle over his shoulder, and had given his hunting knife to Rey for her to slip under her belt. 

“Now, we’re looking for a deer but we’ll take whatever we can get. Squirrels, rabbits, anything with enough meat on its bones and enough skin to tan,” Ben had explained. Rey had gathered that of the animals he hunted, he salted the meat and hung it to dry in the shed by the wood pile. Then he would tan the hides and sell them in town in exchange for beans and coffee, and the other staples they needed in the mountains they couldn’t forage themselves. He made a big trip into town once a month, but said he may have to go early now that there was another person to feed. It seemed like an effective system, and more reliable than Rey’s old “I hope this can of food lasts three days and isn’t spoiled” way of eating. Hunting was definitely interesting. Their first day out, she had spotted a rabbit in the brush. Ben had snuck up behind it, and grabbed it by its hind legs and lifted it aloft. He held it out to her, the creature wiggling and straining in his grasp. “This one can be your first kill.” 

Rey removed the knife from her belt and held it tight in her hand. She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she was ready to dive in and take the life of a bunny. Ben saw her pause, and held out his free hand. Rey considered it. She could give him the knife back, but then what would she learn from this? Nothing. 

She had slit the poor thing’s throat, and also the throat of three more rabbits before the day was over. 

It was an easy thing to learn- living off the land like that. Wake up, collect wood, hunt a little, eat some dried meat packed for lunch, hunt some more, come home chop more wood, eat dinner, go to sleep. On the rainy days they stayed inside, Ben sewed patches onto the worn knees and elbows of his clothes, occasionally repairing the edge of a quilt, and Rey read. Sometimes she just watched him, moving the needle in and out of the fabric, somehow his large hands handling something so tiny and delicate. 

He had given her the blue plaid shirt from the first night. When her clothes were dry she had attempted to return it. 

“You need it for sleeping. Keep it.” He had said, before busying himself with yet another chore. 

Rey had looked through his book of stars and moon charts. There didn’t seem to be anything beyond the small scribbles in the moon section. No hidden notes, no deep dark secrets. Rey quickly became bored with it, after all it was just dates and names- not exactly the most thrilling read. She resorted back to her nature book, and vowed that on the next trip to town soon she’d pick up a novel or something. 

They were a quiet pair. Rey still didn’t know a whole lot about Ben, and Ben knew barely anything about Rey but it worked so far. They rarely had to talk out in the woods during hunting, their body language doing most of the communication less they scare away game. The same seemed to stretch to life at the cottage. The city, while busy and filled to the brim with people, always felt lonely. Here up in the woods, miles from anything else she finally felt… 

She didn’t want to say it yet. 

Ben was a comforting presence. A compass to lead her in this new lifestyle and a rock to anchor herself with. They would sit in their respective beds, Ben sill fiddling with anything that need to be fixed, his hands always working over a sewing needle or a list of supplies or cleaning a gun. Rey would peer up from her book and watch him, his hands moving with practiced perfection. He’d met her gaze and they’d sit in quiet looking at her each other before returning to their respective tasks. 

It was so simple, but every time his dark eyes met hers the breath stilled in her lungs. 

It was at the end of the third week that Rey began to notice… changes. She wasn’t sure if she could call them changes seeing as she didn’t know enough about Ben to really determine if he had changed at all. He kept his distance, or at least tried to. Save for the moment in the kitchen where he loomed over her, he always left a reasonable amount of space between them. They were acquaintances and it made sense. On the road to trust and friendship, but not quite there yet. 

He was closer now. Naturally, as people grow closer they tend to shrink their personal bubble space. However, it seemed to happen overnight. One day it was just like normal and the next it was almost distracting how close he was maneuvering himself to her. Whenever he would hand Rey her blue coffee cup in the morning his fingers always brushed hers, his head leaning in as if to sneak in as close as possible. The last two nights Rey noticed the fur rug inching closer and closer to the foot of the bed where previously it had been laid out right in front of the fire place. He never said anything about it, and Rey never commented but it was different enough for her to take notice. It was if something turned on inside of him, but what she couldn’t say.

They ate a lot of dried and cured meat at the start of the month. Bacon, and deer turned into jerky. For dinner the last two nights Ben had seared fresh steaks of venison from animals he had killed that day. Rey’s piece was always cooked through, but his was a bloody, raw mess. He was bound to get sick from it, but as of yet had no negative side effects. It seemed odd, but then again Rey didn’t know a lot about venison. Perhaps that’s how you were supposed to cook it. He was eating a lot more too. Before his portion always seemed comparable to Rey’s but his dinner was growing larger and larger as the days went on. 

With nothing but chopping wood and her nature book to occupy her mind, Rey was turning to delusion. 

Saturday marked the end of Rey’s third full week in the mountains. That night Rey sat in bed, nature book and pencil in hand, and went over her little notes from the last few days. 

_“Sept. 4th – Full Moon_  
Raw meat  
Clergy  
Closeness”

She had to admit, it wasn’t exactly the best log of events but she only had small margins and very little evidence to go on. She wondered if he had some blood sacrifice to do on the full moon- something to do with his background in the church. Maybe he had converted to a cult of goat blood drinkers. Seemed unlikely: there was very little goat to be found up here. However, seeing as it was already the third of September there wouldn’t be much waiting to see what was so important about the marked day. The full moon was to rise the following evening. 

Suddenly, Ben looked up from his place on the floor. 

“Something’s burning,” he said, sniffing the air. Rey took in a deep breath, but the room smelled like it normally did, of wood and earth. 

“I don’t smell any-,” but he was already up, throwing his jacket on over his bare chest and stepping outside. Rey slipped out of the bed and followed him, standing in the doorway as he stood out in the clearing peering into the darkness. Rey couldn’t see anything, no light, no smoke, and she certainly couldn’t smell any. 

Ben, however, stayed right where he was, sniffing at the air. Every muscle in his body was tensed up. 

“Ben, I don’t think there’s anything out there,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest trying to shield herself from the chill night air. Ben’s old shirt was warm in the cabin but did nothing by itself when confronting the forest’s cold nights. Finally, his shoulders relaxed and he started back up the stairs to the door, his chest heaving. 

“You’re right. I must be imagining things,” he said, giving her a weak smile, his cheeks tinged pink. Rey was halfway back to the bed when he spoke again. “Do you want some coffee?” 

“Isn’t it a little late for that?” she asked. 

“I don’t think I can sleep.” He seemed worried. Either about the imaginary smoke outside, or something else. Rey couldn’t leave him alone like that. 

“Then I’ll keep you company,” she smiled. Ben put on a pot of coffee, and they both settled down on the fur rug which had miraculously been returned to its former place in front of the fire. Rey couldn’t help but feel like she was intruding. Afterall, this had become Ben’s bed and his personal space. They would never sit in her bed together, but it seemed slightly better to sit on the rug. 

“Is something the matter?” she finally asked as he sat down. He stared into the fire for a moment, his jaw tense. 

“Sort of, but nothing you need to worry about,” he finally said. A crease formed between Rey’s eyebrows. That was not the sort of answer she was hoping to hear. Without really thinking, she put her hand out on top of his. His skin was warm and her fingers trembled as they touched. 

“Ben. It’s just the two of us. If something is wrong please tell me,” she begged, leaning in closer to him. He looked at her, his dark eyes drinking in her own. He clasped her hand in between his and slowly brought it to his lips. He placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, just a brush of contact, and his eyes never left hers. Rey’s heart launched into a sprint, slamming around in her chest drowning out the crackling of the fire beside her. 

“I can hear it you know,” he whispered, leaning in closer, his fingers still gently holding Rey’s. 

“What?” Rey squeaked, too concerned with how close and warm Ben was to her to put much effort into expelling the word properly. 

“Your heart.” Ben then leaned in, his body moving deliberately slow. His eyes hung onto hers until Rey abruptly closed her eyes, her mind overcome with cedar and smoke, and something else. Something male. She felt the gentle touch of his lips again, this time on her neck right above her pulse. A shiver ran through her entire body from his lips all the way down to her toes. She felt his free hand fall onto her waist, the heat of his skin burning through her shirt. 

“Does it beat for me?” he whispered into her flesh, laying another soft kiss against her throat. If it was at all possible, her heart sped up, hammering in her chest at the idea of being noticed. Rey felt his nose press against her neck, and the sound of a long inhale before he mumbled “You smell so good, Rey.” 

Rey opened her eyes, staring up at the rafters of the cottage. Heat flushed her entire body, and she let her head fall back, exposing more of her neck to its admirer. 

“Like cinnamon and rain,” he murmured, planting a kiss underneath her jaw. “I can’t stop thinking about it.” 

“Ben,” the name escaped on a sigh. It carried with it every silent thought that was hanging on her heart. Every blush that crossed her cheeks from seeing him working bare chested, every flutter of heart from their fingers meeting around a mug of coffee. It carried how much she loved the smell of cedar on his clothes, and the roughness of his palms on her skin. It held just how desperate she was to touch him, and to be touched. It enveloped everything, and it slipped through her lips like a breath of fresh air. She hadn’t realized just how long she’d been thinking about Ben Solo, and could never imagine how freeing it would feel to release it all at once. 

He froze, his face still nuzzled beneath her jaw. She watched the muscles in his arms tense. He let out a slow breath, the warm air hitting her neck. 

“We can’t,” he said. He pulled away from her; Rey had never felt so cold. “Not right now.” 

She understood, but she didn’t want to. Rey chewed at her bottom lip, hugging her knees to her chest in an attempt to feel less open and raw. 

“Okay,” she said, failing to hide her disappointment. Hazel eyes turned on dark ones and she took a chance. “But there’s no harm in you sleeping in the bed tonight, right?” 

Ben considered her, his skin warm with the glow of the fire. 

“No, I don’t think there’s any harm in that at all.” 

Rey smiled, rising from the thick fur of the rug and crossing over to the bed. She slipped beneath the covers and her tired body instantly felt as light as air. She set her head on the pillow and sleep pulled at her mind like an anchor thrown into the sea, drifting slowly down through the depths. 

“I still can’t sleep,” Ben said, standing at the side of the bed. Rey could barely keep her eyes open. She waved to the nightstand where her nature book sat. 

“You can read,” she said, heavy lids slipping down as she slumped further into the quilts. She lazily patted the mattress beside her. “Read here.” 

She heard a sigh, and the bed shifted as Ben sat down on the bed. He moved under the quilt, and Rey felt a wave of warmth flood over her skin. She snuggled closer, and Ben had no time to protest before sleep had pulled her into its dark embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

September 4th, 1933 started gently. Rey woke by herself, blinking away the sleep in her eyes and reaching over to feel the warmth of her bed companion. 

Only he wasn’t there. She sighed into her pillow. Probably already started on chores for the day. She sat for a moment, her face buried in the fabric, before groaning and deciding there was no more sleep to be had. She sat up in bed greeted by the small cottage, early morning light filtering in through the windows. 

And Ben sitting at the kitchen table, the nature book opened in front of him. 

Rey slipped out of bed, shivering as her feet met the cold floor of the cabin. Ben was leaning his head in his hands, his elbows propped up on the table. Usually he was a twister in the mornings, preparing the pair for their day of work. Instead he was just sitting in the dim light, looking at a book with no lantern to light the pages. 

“Ben?” she asked, her voice breaking the morning quiet hovering over the room. He looked up at her, his hair a ruffled mess. How long had he been sitting there?

“So,” he started, his voice gruff. It didn’t sound like he got any sleep that night and the thought dropped a weight in Rey’s stomach. It was supposed to be comforting to sleep beside one another, and while she had been fine he didn’t seem comforted at all. She picked at the loose threads at the ends of her sleeves, worry eroding the other thoughts in her mind. “You know.” 

Know? Know what? That was so far off base from what Rey was expecting that she stumbled back, nearly falling over Ben’s trunk. She regained her balance and looked back to where he sat crouched over the table. Rey tried to search his face but it was too early in the morning and not a single candle was lit. His face was shrouded in shadow concealing whatever emotions were displayed there. She furrowed her brow, trying to think of what his words could mean. 

“What?” was all she managed out. She sounded as hopelessly confused as she felt. Ben suddenly rose from the table, grabbing the book as well. He crossed over to her, holding the book up to the page about fungi, her notes penciled in the margins. Her eyes drifted from the page to his face. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and he held his mouth in a stiff line, trying to hide a stronger feeling behind it. Rey shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know.” 

“Rey, you’re gonna stand there and lie to me?” his voice was soft, hurt visible in his eyes. Rey’s mouth hung open as she tried to think of anything to say, but what was there to say? I thought you might be in a goat cult but that was a stupid idea? I’m just making notes about you because you’re handsome? I thought the full moon might be your birthday? None of it seemed to touch the level of emotion he was coming at her with. For the first time in the three weeks she had spent up in the cabin, she started to feel alone. 

“I’m not lying,” she gasped, tears pricking her eyes. “I was just, I don’t know, trying to understand.” 

“Understand what?” 

“You.” The word left her lips just as a sob choked her throat. The cabin was supposed to be calm and safe, and now it felt dangerous and cold. 

“And what do you understand about me now?” he asked, his hurt cooling into anger. His crossed his arms over his chest, the book hanging from his fingers. 

“Right now? Nothing!” Rey said, quickly smearing a tear away from her cheek before it could fall any further. 

“Rey! You’re not stupid!” his voice was sharp, his booming baritone filling every corner of the cabin. “You know what this means!” 

He jabbed another finger into the page and Rey threw her hands up in defeat, sick of fighting over nothing. 

“What Ben? What that because you like raw meat and how I smell that you’re going to turn into a werewolf under the full moon!” she shouted. The words were absurd and she chuckled as she said them. Shouting the most ridiculous conclusion anyone could make. 

He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. He just stood there, his eyes diverted to the floor as she expected a snarky comeback. Slowly, the realization bloomed in her mind. She hit the nail exactly on the head. Her heart sped up, her thoughts racing a mile a minute. 

Werewolves were real.

Ben Solo was a werewolf. _Ben Solo was a werewolf._

“Oh my God,” she whispered. He looked up at her, his face steeled for whatever reaction she’d throw at him. However, Rey wasn’t even sure how she _should_ react. Werewolves were fiction up until this moment. The kids at the orphanage were always swapping ghost stories, and men who shifted into beasts was a common theme. When they were around twelve, Finn and Rey had sneaked out of the cold uninviting halls of the orphanage and walked twelve blocks to the cinema. They waiting around the doors and would slip in after couples, pretending to tag along behind them as their children. They settled into the balcony area where the ushers rarely checked tickets and watched _Wolf Blood: A Tale of the Forest_. It was before talkies, and Rey put her reading lessons with Father Skywalker to work whispering the dialogue cards to Finn as the movie played. It was about a lumberjack who, after being attacked by a rival company, was given a blood transfusion from a wolf. It gave him odd dreams and he started to believe he was becoming a wolf as well. The men in the logging camp shun him as a monster, and when the pretty young love interests come to help him, he grabs her kissing her roughly and then mocking her fear. 

Finn and Rey had been enthralled the entire time, and were on the edge of their seats as the man stumbled towards the edge of a cliff intending to end it all. 

“Wolfs’ Head Rock – with it’s sheer drop of a thousand feet!” Rey had squealed to Finn, reading the white letters off the black card before the movie flickered over to the wolf man walking to the cliff’s edge. Crazed and confused, he intended to take his own life. 

The movie’s memory melted away and she was left standing in front of a man, trying to think of anything to say. She blinked, fingers yanking on the loose thread, pulling more and more of the blue string loose. 

“What happens tonight?” she asked softly. Ben clenched and unclenched his jaw. 

“You should leave before,” he says, tossing her nature book onto the bed and turning away. 

“And what if I don’t?” she challenged. He looked over his shoulder, considering her with sad eyes. Then he crossed to the gun rack and grabbed the hunting rifle, holding it out for her grab.

“Then you’ll need this.” 

Rey flinched at the sight of the gun, knowing exactly what his words intended. 

“I- I can’t do that,” she stuttered. 

“Then you should have stayed in the city, Miss Niima,” he grunted, shoving the gun back on the rack. He leaned his forehead against the wood, his back turned to her. 

Rey walked up behind him and slowly, as not to startle him, slipped her arms around his waist. He was warm to the touch, like the burn of sitting just an inch too close to the fireplace. She laid her cheek against his back, savoring his heat. 

“How did it happen?” she whispered. He sighed beneath her cheek, his chest expanding and then falling back into place on again. 

“I was hiking, just enjoying the fresh air and night sky. I thought the moon looked so beautiful that night too. One of them snuck up behind me, drawn to my campfire.” He shifting, pulling up his pants leg and exposing an extensive mural of scars crawling across his calf. Rey couldn’t hold back her gasp of surprise. “Only takes one bite.” 

They stood there for a moment before Rey worked up the courage to speak again. 

“I’m sorry, Ben.” He nodded, but it felt like so little in the scheme of things. Rey stood up straight, forcing her hands to fall away from his warmth. “I’m not leaving you. Not tonight.”

“Rey!” he whirled around. “You don’t understand. Under the full moon, I don’t have any control. I hurt things. I- I hurt _people_.”

“Then what should I do?” 

“You should leave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the movie Rey sees with Finn is an actual movie, and is the oldest werewolf movie still available. You can find it, in its entirety, on youtube.


	5. Chapter 5

Ben helped her gather supplies, placing jerky and a jar of preserves in her backpack. They did not speak of what Rey was supposed to do after the full moon. He didn’t encourage her to come back, nor did he state she was never allowed to return. It was all open and vague. 

It was late afternoon by the time Rey was descending the steps of the cottage, her pack considerably heavier than when she had arrived three weeks earlier. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, turning back to look at Ben in the door way. She wanted to say something, assure him of anything. 

“Be safe,” she said, the words not anywhere near as potent as she wanted them to be. He nodded watch Rey cross the clearing and disappear in the trees. 

She walked for hours, her mind tumbling over the events of the morning. It was a lot to take in all at once. Rey barely registered the miles she was covering as she descended. It wasn’t until her stomach growled that she stopped to take a break. She pulled out her map, and guessed how far down the mountain she was. She was right in the middle of the hike; about two hours from the base, she’d reach town just after sunset.

Rey chewed on a piece of jerky, staring off the side of the mountain at the land stretching out before. She could see tall smoke columns of the factories. She wished she had tried to see the city at night with all their lights glimmering like the bulbs outside the movie theater. 

She thought back on the wolf movie with Finn, how the man had crawled towards the edge of the cliff. Finn had chomped down on his nails, his eyes following the figure across the screen. The young woman from before had rushed in, dragging the man back from the brink. They collapsed onto the ground, his head resting on her breast. She held him close and pressed a kiss to his forehead. An intertitle popped up, its white lettering curving around the words. 

__

_The compelling power of a great love!!_

She was on her feet in an instant, map slung back into her pack. Rey gave the city stretched out before one more look before turning her back on it and climbing back up the mountain.

* * *

It was near dark when Rey burst into the clearing. The sun’s hazy orange glow as it dipped below the mountain side stained everything red, like flames. She ran across the dirt and up the stairs, throwing open the door to the cabin. Her hair was wild, having fallen from its bun in her climb back up the mountain, and her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to catch her breath. 

Ben was standing in front of the fireplace, the navy-blue coffee cup in hand. He turned at the sound of her intrusion. 

“Rey!” He set the mug on the mantle, but did not move towards her. Rey moved forward, a smile painted across her lips. Her cheeks were pink from her hike and her body ached but she ignored it. She crossed over, her hands slipping over his larger ones. 

“Ben, I’m sorry I left- I never should have left. I want to stay here,” she began, her words spurting out like water from a leak in the bottom of a boat. 

“Rey, you can’t be here,” his fingers held hers, his dark eyes taking in her face. There was fear creased in his features. He glanced out the open door she had entered from, watching the waning of light of day slowly creep across the floor. 

“Ben, I-”

“Stay in here,” he demanded, walking towards the door. Her hands felt cold without his fingers wrapped around them. The light was fading, the coolness of starlight overtaking the clearing. Ben crossed the threshold, his fingers gripping the door handle. “Barricade the door, get the rifle, just don’t come outside.” 

With that he slammed the door shut behind him. Rey raced to the window, trying to watch where he was running off to. Only he as gone, the clearing an empty plot of dirt. 

She sat at the table, glancing out the window as the sun finally gave up and slumped over the horizon. Crickets chirped as the stars overtook the sky. It was bright outside, the full moon casting the mountain’s nightlife in clear white light. Rey moved to the fireplace, tossing another log into the flames. 

There was something wrong. Rey listened carefully, stepping towards the front door. The crickets had stopped their song. 

Despite all instructions against the action, Rey yanked the cabin door open. 

In the middle of the clearing before her was the largest creature she’d ever seen. It was a wolf but the twice the size of any man. Thick black fur rippled over its powerful muscles, its white teeth exposed. A growl emitted from its throat, nearly shaking the ground the cottage stood on. Rey gripped the door frame, very aware of breakable her body was. The imagine of bones splitting in the monster’s jaws flickered in her mind and suddenly she couldn’t shake it. 

Rey took a breath, breathing in the scent of smoke and cedar, and stepped out onto the porch. The wolf watched her, saliva dripping from its jowls. 

“Ben,” she whispered, holding out a hand as if she was luring a stray cat in doors and not facing a mythological creature. “Ben, it’s me.” 

The beast leaned forward, snapping its jaws at her. Rey faltered, snapping her hand yanked back to her chest. Her heart hammered within her rib cage. She gasped for breath trying to control the fear flooding in her mind. She could have just gone to the base of the mountain and back into the city life. But she didn’t. She chose to face the danger, she picked this for a reason. She took in a deep breath, letting the air expand her chest, and let it out in a slow steady stream. She kept her eyes on the wolf as she extended her hand once more, palm raised. 

“Ben, I know you’re in there,” she said, slowly taking another step closer, dead leaves crunching beneath her boots. The wolf leaned closer, sniffing the air. “Yes, that’s it.” 

She crouched down, extending her arm out as far as it could go. The wolf stepped closer, its nose following a scent caught in the air. It reached her hand, its muzzle pressing up against her fingers. She flinched at the hot breath blown against her skin. 

Suddenly, the beast lowered its head. Its midnight black eyes looked at her, unblinking. Rey scooted forward keeping her hazel eyes locked with the beast’s. She reached out, her fingers brushing its fur. It pressed its head into her touch. She stroked his head more confidently, pressing her knees into the dirt and running her hands through his jet-black fur. 

“It’s just me,” she hummed. The beast sighed, pressing his head into her lap. Rey stretched her fingers over the expanse of its great shoulders, petting the creature and whispering to it. 

“It’s Rey,” she chanted. “It’s okay, Ben. I’m here.”

* * *

Morning came slowly. Birds chirped as the first bright rays of sunshine landed on the shingles of the cottage. Rey shifted, smelling cedar and earth. Her eyes flickered open and found her head resting against Ben’s bare stomach. He was curved around her, his hand resting on her ankle. Rey slowly sat up, stretching out the soreness in her muscles that set in after sleeping on the ground.

Ben raised his head looking over at her, a small content smile stretching across his face. 

“Good morning Miss Niima.” 

Rey laid down beside him, tangling her fingers in his. She examined his dark eyes and constellation of moles, his pink lips and strong jaw. She snuggled up close, watching his face for a reaction before gently pressing her lips against the tip of his nose. He shivered under the touch and she couldn’t help but grin at eliciting such a reaction. Rey lowered her lips, touching them to his as lightly as a cloud. 

“Good morning, Mr. Solo.”


End file.
